The origins of Brandy go back to the VIII century when the arabs distilled wine for medical and cosmetic use. The story of Brandy de Jerez starts at the end of the XIX century. This Brandy was exported to England under the name of “Spanish Brandy”. By mid XIX century, Osborne broadens its activities and starts working in grape distillation, producing its first Brandies. For seven generations, Osborne has taken care of every detail of the elaboration process of Brandy.
The Brandy de Jerez is aged in oak barrels with a maximum capacity of 1.000L who had previously contained Sherry wine. The ageing takes place using the artisanal and dynamic system of “criaderas y solera”, exclusively in the Sherry triangle formed by El Puerto de Santa María, Jerez de la Frontera and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
The layer that goes on the floor is called “solera”, and the others are called “criaderas”, which contain the younger brandy. The top layer is filled with new young wine. Every certain time, a small quantity is removed from the solera, the barrels that contain the oldest brandy. This process is called “saca”. The space left in the solera is then filled with brandy coming from the previous criadera, and the same will happen with the next one. This process is known as “rocío”. Finally, the criadera at the top will be filled with new holandas.
Osborne’s know-how lies in the perfect balance between tradition and technology. Factors such as the land, the climate, the selection of the grapes and the perfect blending, give the brandies features with the highest quality.
The process starts with the selection of the best white grapes of the spanish variety Airén. These grapes are pressed to obtain must that will be fermented to obtain wine. From the grape distillation process, the holandas are obtained, main ingredient of Brandy.
